The time it will require to knead
properly depends, of course, on the amount of dough,
but for the quantities given above (which I have purposely
made small) about twenty minutes will be ample, though
it is easy to judge when the dough is sufficiently kneaded,
as it will then come clean away from both hands and basin.
If you find at the end of the time given above, or even a
little later, that it still clings, dust it with a little more
flour and knead it again ; but in bread making it is always
well to have a little patience, for it is one of the things for
which no strictly accurate rules can be given, and it is only
by experience that one learns to judge offhand of the con-
dition and requirements of the flour, dough, &c. It cannot
be too often impressed on the beginner that the goodness of
the bread depends far more on the care in the mixing and the
kneading than on the fineness of the flour, an experienced
baker producing infinitely better and sweeter results with
coarse flour and good management than the unskilful or
negligent practitioner will secure with the finest materials
and accessories. Having kneaded the dough till you can
lift it out of the basin, leaving the inside quite clean, dust
the basin lightly with a little flour, return the dough to
the basin, cut it sharply across and across with a knife,
re-cover the pan, and let it rise till it is double its original
22 BREAD, OAKES, AND BISCUITS.
size and the cross cuts are nearly invisible ; this will take,
for the quantities given, about an hour. Now turn it out
on the board and re-knead it for a few minutes, then mould
it. If you mean to bake it in tins have these ready
buttered, and put in the dough, shaping it lightly to the
tin, which must never be more than half full. If you wish
for cottage loaves, make the piece of dough chosen into two
bal ls, a large and a small one ; put the little ball on the top
of the big one. and with either your floured finger, or the
h indie of a wooden spoon, make a hole right through the
two balls, at the same time cutting down the sides of the
larger ball all round to secure a crusty loaf. A very con-
venient shape for kitchen use is what bakers call a Coburg
loaf, which is simply an exaggerated edition of the half-
penny dinner roll ; for this you shape the dough into
an oval, cutting it across the top rather deeply.
Whatever way, however, you choose to shape your loaves,
when so shaped they must be at once returned to a warm
place to rise again. When they have become double their
original size they must be at once put into the oven to bake,
for if allowed to over-rise they will very likely drop in the
baking and become sour and sad. Be sure the oven is right
when you put in the loaves. The easiest way to test the
oven is to throw in a teaspoonful of flour, or a piece of
white kitchen paper ; if the flour browns in five minutes,
or the paper becomes the colour of deal in two or three, the
oven is ready ; if you happen to have a thermometei', you
will find 350° Fahr. about right. The bread should be
in the oven about ten minutes before it begins to brown,
and this stops its rising, which it always does for a few
minutes after entering the oven. If the above quantities
are divided into two, the loaf will take one to one and a
quarter hours to bake.
Page 14
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The time it will require to knead properly depends, of course, on the amount of dough, but for the quantities given above (which I have purposely made small) about twenty minutes will be ample, though it is easy to judge when the dough is sufficiently kneaded, as it will then come clean away from both hands and basin. If you find at the end of the time given above, or even a little later, that it still clings, dust it with a little more flour and knead it again ; but in bread making it is always well to have a little patience, for it is one of the things for which no strictly accurate rules can be given, and it is only by experience that one learns to judge offhand of the condition and requirements of the flour, dough, &c. It cannot be too often impressed on the beginner that the goodness of the bread depends far more on the care in the mixing and the kneading than on the fineness of the flour, an experienced baker producing infinitely better and sweeter results with coarse flour and good management than the unskilful or negligent practitioner will secure with the finest materials and accessories. Having kneaded the dough till you can lift it out of the basin, leaving the inside quite clean, dust the basin lightly with a little flour, return the dough to the basin, cut it sharply across and across with a knife, re-cover the pan, and let it rise till it is double its original
size and the cross cuts are nearly invisible ; this will take, for the quantities given, about an hour. Now turn it out on the board and re-knead it for a few minutes, then mould it. If you mean to bake it in tins have these ready buttered, and put in the dough, shaping it lightly to the tin, which must never be more than half full. If you wish for cottage loaves, make the piece of dough chosen into two bal ls, a large and a small one ; put the little ball on the top of the big one. and with either your floured finger, or the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole right through the two balls, at the same time cutting down the sides of the larger ball all round to secure a crusty loaf. A very convenient shape for kitchen use is what bakers call a Coburg loaf, which is simply an exaggerated edition of the halfpenny dinner roll ; for this you shape the dough into an oval, cutting it across the top rather deeply. Whatever way, however, you choose to shape your loaves, when so shaped they must be at once returned to a warm place to rise again. When they have become double their original size they must be at once put into the oven to bake, for if allowed to over-rise they will very likely drop in the baking and become sour and sad. Be sure the oven is right when you put in the loaves. The easiest way to test the oven is to throw in a teaspoonful of flour, or a piece of white kitchen paper ; if the flour browns in five minutes, or the paper becomes the colour of deal in two or three, the oven is ready ; if you happen to have a thermometei', you will find 350° Fahr. about right. The bread should be in the oven about ten minutes before it begins to brown, and this stops its rising, which it always does for a few minutes after entering the oven. If the above quantities are divided into two, the loaf will take one to one and a quarter hours to bake.